Monday, March 16, 2015

Something Fishy in the State of Georgia

I hadn't been to Atlanta for years. When I worked at Midori Ribbon, I used to make the trip twice a year for tradeshows, and always had a lot of fun with Peter and Shelagh, my Midori compatriots and tradeshow buddies. It was always really cold though (February) or just downright unbearable (second show was in July), so going there in March was a pleasant change. We had a free night at the Hyatt due to a seriously unfortunate incident at the Hyatt in Vancouver (don't ask) and made the two hour drive from Birmingham to Atlanta last Saturday with a plan to spend Sunday at the Georgia Aquarium. It's one of the biggest in the world and the plan was to get there when it opened to avoid the crowds. What we didn't plan on was forgetting that March 8th was the first day of Daylight Saving Time, and not getting up particularly early anyway. By the time we got to the aquarium, it had been open for a couple of hours, and while it was crowded, it's so large and the design is such that the masses don't really impede one's enjoyment. There aren't a ton of tanks but the ones they have are mostly enormous and they comprise four main galleries; there is also a dolphin show (which is truly awful), and various theaters, add-on experiences, and tours. We just visited the galleries and saw the dolphin show (which I can now not un-see), and had a great time.